The Stars are Born

Well I had plans to update the blog in the hospital imagining this serene time with the babies, but it was crazy. I felt horrible and with two babies to occupy your mind, you find that you just let the little unimportant things in life slide. We went in Sunday morning at 8:30am to get induced and after laboring all day I finally delivered the babies at 2:00am on Monday the 30th. I didn't have to have a c-section much to my doctors surprise and the girls were only 2 minutes apart because Ashley was right there anxious to come out. This is us, well Ashley and me when we got discharged on Wednesday from the hospital. Sierra had low blood sugar and couldn't maintain her temperature so she had to stay in the hospital until Friday. So we had a taste of what it would be like to only have one baby.

Ashley is on the left and Sierra is on the right.


Ashley: left, Sierra: right

They are getting ready to go to their first doctor appointments and as you can see they love their car seats.

I had to show that I can juggle both at the same time.

Sierra: left, Ashley: right

This is right after their first bath in the hospital.

2 More Days

Well these are the last of the pregnancy photos that I am going to post. It will be nice to post things other than the progress of my belly. At my appointment on Monday nothing more had happened so Sunday is the day that I will be induced. At first I was really dissappointed, but then it was a relief to not worry everyday if this is the day.

These are the sausages I have been walking on for the last few weeks. I think they are pretty funny looking and even though they feel like they will pop sometimes I enjoy looking at them.

Here is me on Turkey Day just 1 day shy of the 38th week mark. We had Jeremy's parents and sister and her husband and baby over. We forgot to take pictures of them. This was my first year hosting Turkey Day. My mother-in-law still prepared the turkey, but I made the pies using my mom's expert recipe. They turned out really well if I do say so myself.

37 weeks along

Here I am 36 weeks along in the babies room.

Progress

Well at my appointment last week my doctor gave me good and bad news. The good news was that as of Friday the 13th I no longer have to be on bedrest or take any pills and the bad is that he won't induce labor until the 29th of November. I was pretty bummed. Today though I saw the doctor again and I am dialated 1 and 1/2 cm and 60% effaced. I am very happy that I am making some progress towards having these babies. I did get to go to church for the first time in 12 weeks on Sunday, it meant a lot to me. Also I got my hair cut and colored yesterday so I feel like a young person again instead of a gray haired old lady. I will have to post pictures later as the camera is in the car along with everything else we need to go to the hospital. So if anyone is still praying for me to keep these babies in longer, please stop and pray that I go into labor soon.
Thanks!

There is no place like home

I have been out of the hospital for 2 weeks now and I am loving the freedom to control my schedule again and eat real food. I was a little afraid to go home, but I have some pills to stop contractions and everything is looking well for me to deliver at 36 weeks, which for twins is full term.

This is me at 34 weeks. I just got back from my doctors appointment where he said I can increase my activities a little and I can have a couple of short outings a week until 36 weeks and then I am free to walk around like a normal person. So I walked out into our backyard because I could.

Just to show the progression of my beautiful belly, this is me at 32 weeks a few days before I got discharged. You can see at the top of the picuture the bat lights that Jeremy decorated my hospital room with. When anyone walked in and saw the bats they would say wow you have been here a long time if you are decorating.

Hospital Fun

About 4 weeks ago my life changed drastically. I started to have contractions so went to see my doctor and found out that I was funnelling and showing signs of going into premature labor. Since then I have been on complete bedrest and have spent most of the time in the hospital. This is how I spend my days lounging around.

Just so you don't worry too much, I am doing well. This is me last week at 27 weeks. The girls are fat and happy and we're praying that I go full term (8 more weeks).

Jeremy has been such a lifesaver, he sleeps in an unconfortable cot at the hospital every night just so he can be with me. While I have been in the hospital he has been busy at home. This is what the girls' room looks like. He did a great job. He has also completed the other bedroom and is now working on the bathroom (since we aren't using it) so when that is done we will have changed every room in the house.

Babymoon in Seaside, OR

We went to Seaside, OR for our babymoon. It was very relaxing and well worth it. I got to take a nap everyday which was the highlight of the trip. I also got a lot of walking in as our hotel was 2 blocks from the downtown area where everything happens.

These were some awesome mug goggles that I had to show off from a local gift shop.

We thought a side shot might show the goggles and my belly better.

This was the view across the street from our hotel. We stayed at the Inn at Seaside. It was nice and they have the smallest in concrete pool I have ever seen. I think the maximum capacity was 5 people. We did go swimming once and it was fun.

Jeremy pretending to surf at the beach. He was brave enough to go into the ocean as it was freezing and probably only 70 degrees that day, which was the hottest it got the whole time we were there.

Us at the beach.

Jeremy flying his cute little ladybug kite. He did borrow a trick kite from a coworker and we tried for about 30 minutes to get it up, but the wind wasn't strong enough. At least we were entertainment for the other people on the beach.

Me miniature golfing. I noticed several people watching me golf. I don't know if I looked ridiculous golfing or maybe they find pregnant women fun to watch.

There was a huge beach Volleyball tournament going on. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Jeremy riding the bumper cars while I watched.

We went to the Aquarium where you could feed the seals for a buck, but you had to watch out because some of the seals liked to splash you with the stinky water that they were swimming in. It was fun running from them and trying to duck behind other people for safety. This is me cautiously feeding the seals as all of the other people suddenly disappeared leaving me with no protection from the splashing seals.

A close up of one of the seals.

This was an ugly old man face eel that they had at the aquarium.

July Recap

Jeremy and I went to a Sounders game, which is Seattle's Professional Soccer Team. We got free tickets from a friend and they were awesome seats about 5 rows from the field. The only downfall was that is was like 95 that day and my feet swelled up like sausages.

We had a friend reunion in Moses Lake with the Condie's and the Lindsay's. We all stayed with Jeanne's parents and we had a ton of fun. We went to the lake and to a nice water park, played lots of games, and ate some really good food. This is us playing scum, which is one of my favorite games since you get to dress up. Above is the queen and some peasants. From left to right: Celeste's husband, Jeanne, Griffin, and Talon.

Talon was really excited about his cowboy hat.

More peasants, this is Brianne and Celeste, one of Jeanne's friends who she grew up with.

I was also a peasant.

This is the peon and the scum, Bryant and Benson. I am really proud of the scum hat, which if you can't tell is a plunger with flowers coming out of the hole, I designed it myself.

The king and queen, Brian and Celeste's husband.

The Results Are In and . . .

we are having 2 girls. I was pretty surprised. At my work I did a poll and everyone thought I would be having at least one boy and most voted for 2 boys. We are very excited and I can't wait to see how they will wrap their daddy around their little fingers.

The Waddler

Well this is me at 17 weeks. I don't know if I look bigger or not, but I am. I get so excited when anyone says I am bigger. I am sure there will come a point that the excitement will fade, but for now I love my belly. Sadly I have noticed that I have started to waddle slighly. This is due to the fact that it is uncomfortable to put your legs that close together to walk in a straight line. I am feeling good and we should know what we are having in a few weeks. If I could order what I want, it would be a boy and a girl, but I will be happy with whatever we get.

News

Well the shots paid off. I am pregnant with twins. We don't know the sexes yet. I am due Dec. 11th so I am 14 weeks along. It has been a rough road with a few trips to the hospital for IVs and several hours of one on one time with me and the porcelain throne. I am now feeling better and I love my husband even more than I already did. He is my hero for doing everything around the house during the last 2 months. I am getting big and to prove it to my family I am documenting my beautiful belly and will try to take a picture every month.

This is me 13 weeks along.

On May 30th we went to a company party. It was the funnest one ever because there was something obvious that you could talk with me about.

In April our Stake did a road show. We met one Saturday and learned all the dances and songs in a day and performed them at night. It was crazy, but a lot of fun. I was Mary Poppins and we performed Let's Go Fly a Kite and Step in Time. This is Burt and I.

Jeremy did participate in the road show. He helped make the sets. These are a few of the stainglass windows he helped make from construction paper for the Beauty and the Beast numbers.

This is me and the girl who played Jane.

Ever had those days when you feel like a pin cushion?

No? Well that clearly means you have never done in-vitro fertilization. We are currently doing in-vitro which is a 2 month process of endless shots, ultrasounds, and blood draws. Jeremy is now an expert on giving shots. He delights in threatening me with revenge during my shot times, but is actually very gentle and doesn't like causing me pain. We are on the home stretch right now. My 20 eggs will be harvested this Thursday and sometime next week 1 or 2 fertilized eggs will be put back in. We are really excited and will take any prayers that you wish to offer.

It is amazing how Heavenly Father works. I was laid off from my job on Feb. 18th and it was very shocking and I couldn't understand why this was in the plan for me. During in-vitro they want you relaxed and not stressed out. So it seemed like horrible timing. I have really enjoyed being at home and doing things with my friends who are stay-at-home moms. In-vitro takes up your whole life for 2 months and I have been so thankful that I have not had work to stress me out as well.

December at a Glance

My sister Jessica and her family came to Seattle after

Christmas and we went to Red Robin and had an enjoyable time with them.

I tried so hard to get a picture of Elle's excited face. This one is just as cute.

Zach, Jess, and Elle ... what a happy family.

For New Year's we partied at my friend Jeanne's house.

It was kid party so the count down was at 8:00pm,

but the kids were so happy we didn't have to leave until 10,

when they let it be known that they had reached the breaking point.

We danced and did karaoke. It was pretty wild.

Christmas Eve was also spent at Jeanne's house.

This is Jeremy as the donkey giving Mary a ride.

Joseph, who is Hudson in the middle,

would not cooperate and wear his costume. The nativity was

very entertaining that night.

We surprisingly had a White Christmas

this year and Jeremy all by himself

constructed this beautiful snowman.

This is Matt, Jeremy's younger bro, and Sam his new wife.

We got to see all of Jeremy's siblings this year and

we celebrated Christmas early on the 19th since

everyone was here for Matt's wedding.